Memories
by canihavea-soda
Summary: The past cannot be remedied - and neither can it be forgotten. Such is the curse for those who played the central rolls in the seven years of darkness, and Ganondorf Dragmire's defeat. Complete
1. Memories : Link

Memories  
  
Disclaimer: Belong to Miyamoto and Nintendo. I don't claim any of the characters pertained to be my own.  
  
Link muses on the past. I wrote this for a challenge, in under an hour, listening to a medley of depressing music. And it sure does show through in this. First proper angst for a long time. Be gentle with me.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I see it - I dream about them. So much, so often. So many memories that flicker through my mind when I close my eyes in my semblance of sleep. When did I last sleep? Four, five days ago was it? I don't know - one day merges into another for me now. I haven't been outside for even longer than that. How I miss the sun. But, Zelda says I must stay. She doesn't want me to go out. She fears what I may do; so do I.  
  
My mind is befuddled with everything, but yet, I can still see each memory as clear as crystal. Right now, I am looking back to when I woke up to find myself grown. As if that was not shock enough, I then had to wander out into a world that had been cleaved in two in seven short years. I had to see the people I had once known, tortured and twisted, turned into something cruel where they had once been something kind. With their wills broken and their lives on hold whilst they bowed down to a man who had no right to tell them to do so.  
  
No right at all.  
  
But no...not only he was to blame for that. It was me who did it - who gathered the Sacred Spiritual Stones, who opened the Door of Time. It's my fault that all my friends, that everything I ever knew, was damaged. Hurt, ripped, the land raped and the people scarred forever by the actions of a man who gained power he shouldn't have had.  
  
What if I'm the same? I know I have dwelt on it - wondered long and hard whether I just want to be the 'Hero'. Whether what I really want is to be the next dark King. Zelda would be a difficult adversary, but I could use other means to get there. Seduction is a cruel trick to play, but she would fall for it. I know from her glances and smiles very well what she thinks of me.  
  
No! She is my friend. And to hurt Malon further than she has been by doing so would be the highest cruelty.  
  
Malon - seven years of slave labour, of leering faces staring down at her as she grew from a girl to a young woman. Years of fighting off advance after advance from the bewitched Ingo, and his fellow Ganondorf followers, and being beaten for not submitting. Praying day after day for rescue, whilst I was shut up cosily in the Sacred Realm, protected from all hurt. And then, when I did come, she was so eager to see me, forcing her worn body to smile and greet me happily. To...to care for me and teach me how it was that my new body worked.  
  
I blush to think on it. And it hurts because I know I have done wrong. I should not have allowed myself...it is impossible for me to live as a normal person. I am the one who is not to be touched, only idolised and put away in a glass box until another place needs to help of the 'Great and noble Hero of Time'.  
  
It's funny. I don't feel so 'great and noble' when I awake in the middle of the night, pictures of death and destruction burning my eyes, snivelling and crying like a little lost child. For that is what I am; a child in a man's body. And I want to go back. Let me truly be a Kokiri again, so that I do not have to grow up. So that I could never have felt the pains of attempting to love, the injuries of war, seen the hatred that can stem from the smallest of things.  
  
I want to be a child again. Is it too much to ask?  
  
I want it that none of this ever happened. That I never had those dreams, that a fairy never came to me. I wish that I am back in my tree house, still being teased and known as 'Mr no Fairy.' At least then, my childhood companions would still be alive. So many...so many dead when I went back after those seven years. I remember it well.  
  
Walking through the dark archway, and fending off the giant deku-baba that had rooted itself at the entrance. And then, looking on, looking out through the glare of the bright sunshine. Such irony, that the weather show no compassion at all to the dead. There they were - tiny bodies, clutching their slingshots and deku-shields, obviously having pitched a desperate defence against Ganondorf's forces. And having lost miserably. And, not only were they dead, but there, not three feet away, some of the lingering dark creatures dared to deface the bodies.  
  
The anger grew in me then. Welled up and exploded; I am afraid of myself when I am angry.  
  
I am like the Fierce Deity of the mask when I am angry. I kill, without mercy, I cannot distinguish well between necessity and the sheer pleasure of death.  
  
I am afraid. All the time. What am I? Why did destiny choose me, when I cannot even begin to comprehend myself?  
  
I don't know who I am.  
  
I know nothing.  
  
They call me the 'Hero'. I suppose that's me. Right? The 'Hero'. I don't feel like much of a 'Hero'. Heroes don't get ill do they? Heroes don't cry like little lost children, as they recount the deaths of hundreds over and over again every night. Heroes are not shut away from the world, not kept out of the sun, because their ruler believes them a threat.  
  
A threat to the people - and to themselves.  
  
What do Heroes do?  
  
All I did was kill. I am no 'Hero'. I am evil; I took lives. Yes, if I said this to anyone, they would say that it was a necessity. That I saved many millions of others with those lives.  
  
But what about the good people who I didn't save? Because I couldn't be there. Because I was too weak, I had to stop and rest. Because for seven years I was not even part of the world. So many good people dead - some without graves or markers to remember them by. Others too mangled and ruined to be given names to, buried in mass graves and then labelled with guessed identities. The Kokiri, Hylians, Zorans, Gorons, Sheikah, and even the few Gerudo who challenged Ganondorf.  
  
Dead.  
  
I am dead. Inside. I do not feel anything.  
  
Wait, that is a lie. I do.  
  
Despair.  
  
Pain.  
  
Anger.  
  
Hatred.  
  
I feel all the dark things. It's as though I'm slipping into darkness, and because I am the 'Hero', no one can save me. No one. Not even the Goddesses themselves, or the Tri-Force. They are higher powers, more important than I. I have false status. I am not a 'Hero'. I'm just a boy who dreamed a dream, gained a fairy, and saw a young Princess. I did as she told me, not thinking for myself. Aren't heroes supposed to be smart as well as strong? If so, I've fallen short of both marks. My brains are lacking, and my swordplay leaves much to be desired. I have lived on luck.  
  
Luck that I have borrowed from all the people who did not need it. Because it had left them when they died. More precisely, when they were killed. And most did not gain the dignity of a clean death. Men were tortured and worked for slaves, until they dropped and eventually died. Women were the same, but also used for pleasure, for little toys of no consequence.  
  
Oh Goddesses! Why? Why did you not come and save your people? Why place it all on a weak, feeble, useless mortal like me?  
  
I saw them all suffering, I saw them dying, and I did nothing. My mind was focused (stupidly) on playing the knight in shining armour, and saving the Princess and Malon. I cared not for the nameless dead then - I only listened to Sheik for the melodies he would give me. Sheik - Zelda has finally told me the real truth. That Sheik died out in the Desert, trying to follow me and warn me of the perils there. Ganondorf captured him.  
  
I see the images now of his death. It is not for the eyes of innocence that the lucky children who were born after the dark times have. But all those who lived through it will know the pictures well. Torture, slavery, manual tasks. Carrying weights far too heavy for his light Sheikah frame. Being whipped and punched and kicked and bitten, scratched and pushed around until he finally snapped and fell to the ground. And even then, he would be picked up once more, and forced to carry on walking, to keep on and on. To carry on until exhaustion left, and was replaced by living death.  
  
NO! The darkness in me relishes these thoughts. It calls out that I can make this happen. But no, I couldn't make it stop, that doesn't mean I want it again. Please, help me.  
  
Help me.  
  
I am afraid of myself. I am darkness concealed in light. I am weakness hidden within strength. I am a coward masked by the name of 'Hero'. I do not deserve to live. But I have not yet earned the privilege to escape my suffering into death.  
  
Someone help me. I deserve no help though. Why do I ask? I will not receive. I did not help all those who died to make sure I succeeded.  
  
Sheik...he is prominent in my mind. Perhaps I loved him - I know not. I have never been able to discover love. I cannot feel love - I cannot feel. I am only a ball of hatred and anger and pain and confusion, ready to explode and take down many innocents with me.  
  
I cannot let myself do that. Haven't I done enough?  
  
I'm so scared. My mind...it shows things I don't want to see.  
  
I'm always afraid.  
  
I'm afraid of myself.  
  
Because, I know one day, I will have to leave this bed again. I will have to go outside and see the sun, see the people who adulate me because they believe I am good. They believe I am valiant and righteous. They don't know of my furtive thoughts of darkness. And I pray that they never find out. When I snap, I will be dead. In the real sense, not merely the sense that I am already dead by. I will kill myself. The people don't need another dark King. Not when they already have their false 'Hero'.  
  
Don't make me see them again.  
  
I dread to think what I may do.  
  
Zelda...she is right to keep me here. Thanks to her highness.  
  
She understands.  
  
She knows what I am.  
  
And she is as afraid as I am.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Please R+R. Tell me what you thought. I'm feeling a bit drained by this to be honest. Will have to go listen to something upbeat to cheer myself up...  
  
Soda 


	2. Guilt : Zelda

Guilt  
  
I just don't seem to be able to say no to my reviewers, so here's another chapter of the same angsty style. However, this time, it is Zelda who reflects upon the past, and how her flee affected her people. She is wracked with guilt from the past, and cannot see a brighter day to come.  
  
So, for Gunoung7, Sycorgerl64, LilFilipinoGurl, Ooshii Kurai, mo, Metallicafangirl (I LOVE YOU DAMMIT!), SilverCrystal Valkyrie, H7 and Ani, I present to you this chapter, with my humble thanks for the reviews.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Oh, how weary I do feel today - I have had to perform duty after duty, riding around to accept the cheers of thousands in the town, to place wreaths of remembrance on the graves of those who died in the seven years of darkness. To show that once again, Hyrule is free and prosperous as it ever was. Even though I, the one who must rule over it, and ensure that it remains safe forevermore, am plagued with fears and terrors that I cannot combat by any magic. For memories are not easily gotten rid of.  
  
Every day, I awake early in the mornings, and my first task - oh, I say it as though it is a burden. No, it is not. And he is not an 'it' either. He is a scared child, just as I am, who had to grow too fast, and learn things that he would rather not have known. I am the cause for this - it was my sheer stupidity and naivety that brought this upon him. However, as I was saying, each morning, before the sun rises, I go to tend to the Hero.  
  
Oh, how strange it feels to roll that name from my tongue, when all I really want to do is whisper his name across the breeze, for all to remember forevermore. Link - the boy/man, who has been marred and scarred by the cruel twists of fate. Played with by destiny, just as I have been. At least, I had things explained to me before everything came crashing down about me. I at least had Impa, and the other Sheikah who protected me in the darkness. He...he had to awaken to hell on earth.  
  
And oh, how I wish it wasn't so. How I wish I could undo all of this suffering, and bring back the dead, replace Link's lost years. See Sheik's vermilion eyes with the sparkle of life in them once more, and hear his jeers as I try to wield a sword and fail miserably.  
  
So many things do I wish, and yet, even with the Tri-Force of Wisdom, I cannot foresee any possible way by which these wishes might come true. It is hard enough to govern a recovering land, and keep on smiling whilst I do it, without these dark clouds over me. I keep telling myself that I should not think on it - that Link needs my help, as do the people. I must not be selfish in mourning all the loss alone. I must aide this land as a true ruler should!  
  
And yet...I cannot.  
  
I cannot bear to forget the torment I placed on an innocent land's shoulders.  
  
To merely throw these thoughts away would be heinous. It would be saying that I placed no store, nor care, on the harm I inflicted through utter foolishness. Through childhood folly!  
  
To turn away from these facts would be even worse than to see them, and analyse what they mean. I would rather remember the raging fires, the seas of blood, mutilated limbs, people half-dead standing over their sobbing children - just to show that they all hold significance. That they have received the martyr status that all of them - every single one - deserves, even if only in the mind of one fragile, foolish woman.  
  
It is not nearly enough payment, but I hope they know...I hope that wherever in death they may have gone, they are aware of how greatly I admire what they did.  
  
Oh, foolish, foolish talk. Admire? Admire does not nearly cover it. Link I admire, yes - but those people.  
  
Every day I could mourn a new face, until the day of my death, and yet there would be thousands more left to mourn. All over me - all in the search for me, little Hylian girls lined up and killed, in the hope that one may be me in disguise. Young men throwing futures away as they tried to rescue their damsels, protect their towns and families from the pillaging dark creatures, and those disgusting ones who had turned over to the darkness with glee.  
  
Oh foul, cruel fate! You do despise us lowly mortals, don't you? You do like to toy with us, and then kill us for your twisted pleasures?  
  
What am I doing? I am talking as though I try to blame others. No...how dare I do such a thing? It comes down to the simple fact, that I told Link; poor, wondrous, estranged boy, who was not sure which way was up from the look of him... I told him to gather those stones. And he did, out of simple good nature, out of a trust that this Princess of Destiny was wise enough to set store by what she said.  
  
Hah - the Tri-Force gave me the part for wisdom, and yet I am the biggest fool of all time.  
  
Impa would scold me so much, if she knew but a little of my thinking. Perhaps it is merely her training, or perhaps she did set some sort of love upon me. But, she always was a mother to me, since mine own never lived past the first few days of my existence. Alas, it seems that everyone who is near me becomes endangered by the same foes I have. Father died also because of me, waylaying the dark Gerudo as I fled the Castle Town that fateful night.  
  
That night that began it all, and forced Link to a path he should never have had to tread.  
  
And, whilst he was blissfully asleep, I had to run like a thief in the night, and steal away from the kingdom I longed to protect. When the Door of Time was opened, the Tri-Force of wisdom burned into my hand, and Impa rode harder, fearing that with his Power, Ganondorf would seek us out.  
  
Further shadows joined us, all intent on protecting the Sacred Princess - the Princess of the highest Destiny. And, one by one, on our wearying travels through distant corners of the world, by sea and land, they fell by the wayside. Cut down in the prime of their lives, as we all rode ever onwards, away and away.  
  
The Princess had to survive - that was their mission task. It was their imperative. I was the very thing that they lived - and died for. And, gladly, I would give my own feeble life to bring all of them back again. Arbreth, who was so kind, and taught me the tenuous way of fishing with no rod - the hours of merriment he and I had together trying to de scale the fish. Then Feulte, who was always so silent, and yet prone to bursts of song in the times when we could stop and rest a while.  
  
And there were so many more. I feel ashamed, but some of their names have evaded me as the years have gone on. One though - ah, that one. He cannot be forgotten, for he was so close to me. He devised the plan to help Link through his arduous tasks, and then blend me back into Link's life as though nothing at all had happened, and Ganondorf was just some tiny blip in the general happiness of life.  
  
Again, I see with what folly I have played life. And with interminable horror, I can also see what was sacrificed just so that my one life could go on.  
  
Link is calling for me again - his nightmares are more vivid than mine, and I wish that I couldst comfort him. But, he will not take that which I offer - he refuses to, out of belief that he too can bring nothing but misery to those he is around. Perhaps it is our curse...perhaps it is what must happen to those of destiny.  
  
We must be alone...even when we sit together, or talk with one another, both of us shall always be alone.  
  
And it is a terror no others should ever have to face.  
  
To be disgusted with oneself.  
  
To wonder whether you are sane, after the torment of life, and then to wonder if you ever were to begin with when sleep steals you away.  
  
To wish and pray fervently that life is but a dream, and you shall wake up, warm and safe and loved, in a world where no darkness has ever been heard of, even in legend.  
  
Such is our curse. That we must hate and fear ourselves, and the others like us.  
  
For I admit, I worry for Link. He says things whilst he sleeps - when he thinks I am not there to hear him. He mutters and mutters to himself, and weeps for hours on end, before returning to his usual state of apathy.  
  
And I must only watch - never comfort.never touch. For fear of what I may be inclined to do. If I ever came too close to him, I am not sure I could contain the urge to hold him and never let him go. To tell him he is loved, he is needed.  
  
To tell him I am sorry for all that has befallen him because of me.  
  
To thank him for merely being alive to start with.  
  
But, all these things I must never do. I must remain strong, regal and merry to my people. I must lead them into this uncertain era of rebuilding and new hope. And I must do this all when my heart is as black as pitch, and my soul screams constantly for death to take me away. So many things must I do...  
  
I wish that I could not be me. If only for one day, I wish to be someone else. Or to at least turn back the clocks so that I am that child, peering through that window at the accursed Ganondorf. So that I can turn to Link, and giggle, and then ask him to be friends. So that I never mentioned the stones, or my petty little fears. I wish...  
  
Again, wishing is a futile practice.  
  
I shall stop at once. Link murmurs his fears, and I will attempt to comfort him, though he will no doubt rage and tell me to let him be. Link...he has every right to hate me - and yet he is still trying to protect me. Still trying, when he is too weak with sorrow, and too tired from weeping to even move.  
  
Oh, unfortunately called 'Hero of Time', think to yourself. Rest...do not think of the Princess of Destiny - for it is she who called you to all these evil tasks. It is she who has forced you to this.  
  
Many tears have I cried for the past. For those who died protecting me; protecting their families; protecting the weak and innocent who had no hope of protecting themselves. For the young boy, known as Sheik, who it was made to seem never existed...that I have remedied at least. For these people I cry - and for so many more.  
  
And I shall cry many more tears, and think many more thoughts of sorrowful remorse before the sun finally sets on my life.  
  
Let the night come soon to me.  
  
So that it might set me free.  
  
And lead me to the bliss of dark, unknowing eternity.  
  
Oh, holy death - wilst though soon come to me?  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
R+R. Again, tell me what you thought of this. I...I feel strange now. I shall have to read some humour story to lift my spirits again...  
  
Soda 


	3. Pained : Malon

Pained  
  
[Rolls up her sleeves] I've left this thing alone for far too long, so I'm going to make amends and get writing right this instant. For all who've reviewed this, this chapter is for you.  
  
Malon survived seven years of hardship and pain, to be rescued by her knight in shining armour - but her knight isn't quite so shining as she would have liked him to be. Is this what she spent so long hoping for?  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Another day has dawned, and again I am up before the sun. Oh glorious morning rays dancing over the water in the horses' troughs, why can't you light me up as well? I feel like a shadow, blotting out everything good in the world. And I know I shouldn't feel like this at all - I've everything I need and more. Father is back home and Ingo is at last himself. All the darkness is over, so why am I not happy?  
  
Because he is not happy. Oh cruel heart, so long did I yearn for him - for anyone - to rescue me during the years of torment. But then when he came, so worn and weary and so...so terribly *human*. I was disappointed, because I knew then that my fantasy could never have been reality. It was all just the dreams of a silly little girl.  
  
Though my flights of fancy do live on, that I admit. I still pray fervently that he'll wake up from his stupor and come back to me. That he will come back to the world.  
  
Don't I deserve that? Seven years of torture, of waiting and hoping; don't I deserve my recompense as much as the next? Surely all that I have endured entitles me to my little piece of happiness? I had it for a few hours...had him for a short while. But then he had to carry on in his quest, and leave me alone to deal with life again. And now I doubt he will ever come back.  
  
His burden is hard to bear, that I know all too well. I could see it in the wildness in his eyes - like a young foal beset by wolves, filled with primal fear of what's to come. And yet...when we lay together, he was calmed somewhat - dare I believe that I helped him? That I gave him what it was he needed to escape himself for a while? To escape the world that demands so much of him, and that he cannot pay back for all that is given.  
  
I feel cruel to dwell on my own burdens...but who else will if I do not? Who else can I rely on to ask for redemption if I do not? No one, that is who. Father does not understand - he had his safe haven during the darkness. And Ingo was trapped within himself so far that I don't think even he fully understands what he became. So it is only I who can know what it is truly like to be alone, and to wonder day in, day out whether you shall see the next dawn, or die through the sheer horror of being made to live another day within your own mind.  
  
I had to grow up fast - as all the children had to within the rising. I learned how to work the farm almost single-handedly within a few short months, with help from beatings and threats of starvation if I made a mistake.  
  
All too soon, Ingo found my weak spot to be the horses, and every time I dared to stand up to him, he would find it easy to beat me down again with threats against them. Poor creatures - unable to defend themselves from their own futures, as steeds to Ganondorf and his disgusting followers. More than likely to also end up on a spit being roasted if they did not run fast enough.  
  
And, twas not just the horses I had to worry for - as I grew, it was obvious that Ingo and his friends would take some more interest in me - crude jokes, unwanted gazes lingering too long over me as I carried things back and forth between the paddock and the barn in the evenings. Even a few careless touches which caused me to shiver and my skin to crawl as I dreaded what may come next.  
  
Luckily, it never came. I managed to hide myself away quite well, to become as small and unnoticeable as possible, so that I was just another nameless slave amongst many nameless slaves in the empire.  
  
It came close many times though...those times I don't like to recount, as I dread to think what might have happened had circumstances changed. Had I remained as outspoken as I was as a child, I doubt I would have survived those times at all.  
  
Link...oh, he pops into my mind at the most inopportune times. And the thing is, I do not even mind that it happens, because deep in my heart I still believe him to be my knight - to be my shining hero, and nobody else's. Pah, it's the same with most of the young women in the Castle-town as well - I cannot deny that my dear 'Fairy boy' grew up to be quite the handsome man. But I can claim that I am the only to have known him truly - though I fear that was not how either of us really wished it to be.  
  
I may be with his child...and I may not. I would have to see a soothsayer to know for sure, and leaving the farm right now is impossible. There are so many years to catch up on - so many deliveries of milk to be prepared now that it is back in demand. And I have to pack every single one of the crates - at least until we can get some staff back. Father's 'ill' - though I fear he is probably just so used to wasting time that he couldn't work if he wanted to. And Ingo is busy repenting of his sins, so will not help either.  
  
It pains me a little to move these crates...I like to think that the pain can only be a little of what the whole nation feels. I can share in their grief, with my own little grief. My own little wish, shredded by the sharp knives of fickle fate.  
  
Knight in shining armour...where are you? If not to save me, then to save the fallen knight who weeps and grieves for wrongs that were not his to right. Come and save him - save me - save all of us. The darkness is gone, but nothing else but a miracle will take away from us all the pain and the anger. Nothing can bring back the dead, no matter what we may try, they will still be dead, and those alive still in pain, and those not in pain will be angry that they aren't.  
  
I'm in pain - not just the physical pain as I have to force my aching muscles to carry on working. But of course mental - maybe even spiritual, if I can believe that anyone has a soul anymore. I think perhaps I would prefer it that this is the only existence I will have, because I dread to think what another life may bring to me, other than more pain, and more evil. But I suppose if there is another a world, I'm prepared for it after what's happened in this one.  
  
Seven years. Seven years Link - that's a long time for anyone to wait. But I did - I kept myself alive for you. I waited for so long, and you finally came; at first, not intent on rescue, but then your heroic nature forcing you to do so.  
  
It did not force you to anything else, did it? You had free will over your other actions...didn't you?  
  
Can you love, my dark knight? Or has all the love been taken away by the death and the pain you saw?  
  
It hasn't taken it from me quite yet. I still feel love sometimes - heck, I even smile occasionally! Mostly when I think of you...or the times before I lost my innocence - before I had to see blood spilt. Before you had to see blood spilt.  
  
Before all this, I believed in a shining knight in shining armour, who would arrive on his valiant steed and rescue me from the clutches of darkness. All right - you may not have shone, or donned polished armour of brightest steel - but your steed was valiant. I know, as I raised her myself. And you did rescue me from darkness' claws, whisking me away to safety and then vanquishing the proverbial dragon from my home. And then you gave me your own piece of light - a piece of you that I would not forget.  
  
But it is this piece of light that you may need back, because you have fallen dull since then - you have not come back for me. You are alone, and I am alone - we are supposed to be alone together...forever is a strong word, but the words always have to rhyme in fairytales, so I suppose I shall have to use it...  
  
Oh knight - shine again. One day you will, and I will be waiting.  
  
Waiting as always.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Sorry for the a/u idea of Malon and Link perhaps having some relations of a sexual nature...I just thought it would add a nice angsty twist of a sort.  
  
R+R - Soda 


	4. Watched : Navi

Watched  
  
Here's another one - I'm on a roll today!  
  
Navi the fairy - perhaps not our most favourite character. But, she has her own woes just like anyone else. All she was allowed to do was watch, and her only intervention was the advice she gave the hero from time to time. What about her? The home she left behind when she went with him? The friends she never saw again?  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Who am I?  
  
I'm Navi...and I live in a hat, if you're interested.  
  
Yes, you read that right - I live in a hat. To be precise, I live in *the* hat. The one which belongs to the Hero of Time, that's he's worn from the very beginning of his adventures.  
  
Oh yes - I'm a fairy. You seem surprised - but of course - I stay out of sight most of the time. Even from Link a lot now - he doesn't want to see me. I remind him too much of his past apparently - of the forest and his friends especially.  
  
I remind *him*? That boy has no idea - he hasn't been alive even half as long as I have. That place was my home since I was a larvae, and I knew each and every one of the Kokiri and their fairies by name...many of them are dead now, because Ganondorf got it into his head that Link would be in the forest, since he noticed me and assumed Link to be a Kokiri. But, he isn't (obviously). He's a blasted Hylian, who has it in his head that he doesn't need a fairy anymore.  
  
So what am I to do then? I'm bound to him until one of us dies - that's the promise I made to the Deku-tree (Goddesses rest his soul), and I'm not going to break it because Link's having a tantrum. Seems harsh you say? You haven't known him as long as I have.  
  
I mean, take the first time I met him. The Great Deku-tree was under a curse from the dark lord Ganondorf, and sent me out to find the 'boy without a fairy', and bring the boy to him. And how long does it take this kid to wake up? At least ten minutes - and then he tries to reach the Great Deku-tree, and gets waylaid by Mido, who tells him he needs a sword and shield to get past. What did Link do? Had a temper tantrum, right then and there, wailing that life wasn't fair, and how the hell was he supposed to get a sword if their wasn't one in the village anyway.  
  
You look shocked? Have I uttered some blasphemy by telling you the truth? Yes, Link is undoubtedly brave, and he saved us - but he was a brat sometimes. Luckily, he grew out of it whilst he fought his way through the Temples as an adult, and then faced Ganondorf. But the cycle seems to have come back and turned him into a child again, sulking in his room, wailing that he shouldn't have been made a hero, blah-di-blah.  
  
Maybe he's right... I mean, how many more male children were born to Hylian mothers on the night that he was bough to the forest? Dozens at least, so why this particular one? Any one of them could have been the hero, but Link was just in the right (or wrong depending on your perspective) place at the time.  
  
Listen to me - I go on as though he's still a child. No, he's a man now, though still a child at heart. And he's confused - which he had every right to be, so I should stop berating him, and start looking after him properly. He just infuriates me sometimes - especially when he doesn't check his hat before throwing it across the room - the bruises I have from experiences like that are no joke.  
  
It is just the way that he thinks he is the only one to have lost a home, and to have lost friends that annoys me. I lost just as much as he did. I had to leave the only home I had known, and all the friends I ever had in order to help him in his quest, and to make sure he was looked after properly. It is I who told him how to combat almost every enemy he came across, and what was safe to eat, where it was safe to pitch camp and those kinds of things.  
  
I tutored him through the basic process of shaving for Goddesses' sake! How can he shut me out after that invaluable lesson in life? If it weren't for me, our young hero would have a beard a mile long by now!  
  
However, those are all silly things - I learned to love him like a little brother as we travelled together - I even found him almost as annoying as one as well. And we shared our grief when we returned to the forest to find so many of our friends...  
  
Oh Goddesses...  
  
It just hits me every so often when I think about them. Just how many of them were...  
  
I'm sorry - fairies crying are probably not something you're used to. Me neither - I didn't actually know we could until that day. There was this burning feeling at the corners of my eyes, and I was afraid for a second that something bad was happening, and then suddenly out came all these tears across my cheeks. Link was surprised as well, and after he had slayed the monsters around, he paused, and came out of his sudden rage to comfort me a little.  
  
Whatever anyone may say about Link, he is loyal - he may become angry with you for a little while, but more often than not, he will try to make it up to you. He's told me to leave four times already now, but each time it's only been a few days before he asks me to stay. So I'm not worried, though I do get angry when he says it - almost as though I wasn't there during the whole of his adventures, telling him what to do to keep himself alive.  
  
Sometimes, I wonder what life would have been like had I been a Hylian woman helping him. Would there have been something more than this diabolical teacher/student relationship. Would we have perhaps been proper friends like most fairy and Kokiri partnerships are. Even though I know he isn't a Kokiri - but you know what I mean!  
  
Would he have respected me more if I had been like the Princess? Powerful and wise, and more importantly, the same seize as him! I mean, I believe if he couldn't keep sweeping me under his hat, I would be able to command some more respect at least. It's an interesting thought - Navi, the fairy turned Hylian...it sounds almost like some ridiculous child's story.  
  
But it would have helped, that I do believe. All we fairies get quite a bad lot, because we have almost no power over our charges, other than what advice we can give them. And even with advice, there is no guarantee that it will be taken.  
  
Alas, it's hard looking after Link. He's such a messed up Hylian, and fate's played around with him an awful lot. It just doesn't seem quite right that he should shut everyone out now, when he needs our help more than ever.  
  
I'll go to him soon - I'll just have to dodge any flying pillows this time, because I don't fancy another night having to bathe in red-potion to get rid of more bruises. He will listen to me, though he may not want to hear what I have to say. Because he knows that I will only give him the advice he needs to hear, and not the advice he wants to hear. It's only what he deserves - someone who was with him from the beginning to help him out.  
  
I hope I can help him out today - I dread to think what his mind gets up to whilst he spends all those hours idling in that stuffy room of his. It just cannot be healthy!  
  
Maybe I should take him back to the forest - Zelda won't want that of course. But maybe if I can just take him back to the home that he misses for a little while. It might calm him down and make him a little happier. I think even the sight of Mido might cheer him up, and that is a definite indication of just how far into depression he has fallen.  
  
Or maybe I should just take him out full stop. Show him all the people who are happy and alive, and who owe it all to him. To show him that they bear no grudge against him for the dead, and instead idolise him a little for it, as it shows that he too is human like them. It allows them to related to him, because he feels pain just as they do.  
  
I have to make him do *something*. Anything. He just has to get out of this castle.  
  
He has to get out of here before it suffocates him with its locks and guards and memories.  
  
The memories here are terrible for me, and I did not see the better part of the last battle - so I hate to think what they are like for him. Even the smallest thing might trigger his memories - a particular way the light falls through the stained glass windows in his room - or the way a crow circles one of the towers.  
  
Yes - both of us must flee this place before we drown in the memories.  
  
I need to go home. Soon...  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Hmm - did Navi seem a little bitter? Maybe it's just me, but I think she did...oh well. R+R my little angst fans, and [huggles] just be thankful your lives won't ever be quite as fucked up as these guys'. (Poor Zelda cast...I'm so mean to them.)  
  
Soda 


	5. Reminiscence : Saria

Reminiscence  
  
Saria's thoughts. It's quite short - I'll be doing one of these for all the sages, and I fear most of them will be just as short...but it's all good anyway.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I turned out to be a Sage - which just shows how funny life can be. My best friend turned out to be the Hero of Time, and my favourite place just turned out to by the Temple which I was the Sage of. Sage of Forest - and thus one of six who would seal away darkness when the time came.  
  
When I was awakened, it was to find that my home had been ripped apart whilst I was slumbering in some prison, unaware as the world fell to pieces. And it was a terrible thing to wake up, and the first thing I saw was a face that I knew, but couldn't quite place.  
  
It was the fairy that finally convinced me - when Navi flew from beneath his green hat and settled on his head, I knew that it was my old friend. And I knew then that we could never have our friendship back, because he was the Hero, destined for greatness, and I was a Sage. And my destiny was to dwell forevermore in the Sacred Realm, ensuring that the whole of Hyrule was safe from evil.  
  
I didn't ask for it - and never did I even dream that I could be who I turned out to be. Sometimes I wish I wasn't who I am at all - and sometimes I am glad I am, because it means that all the Kokiri who remain are going to be happy forever, and won't have to see the bad things ever again.  
  
But Link - yes, I know, everything always seems to come back to him at some point...but, that is just the way it's always going to be. He did it - he vanquished the evil and drove out the darkness...  
  
However, he didn't manage to escape the darkness himself. Looking down from here, I can see that shadows crowd all around him, and I don't know how I can stop one of them claiming him. And there are so many he can fall to.  
  
Despair.  
  
Pain.  
  
Anger.  
  
Hatred.  
  
There are so many shadows, and only one light path. I only hope that the ones who are left in Hyrule who know him can help him choose that one. I don't know whether he will listen to the Princess of Destiny, or even to Navi. But he will listen to the Ranch girl - she stands on that light path - if, somehow, I could ensure that he will go to see her, then I could be happy that he would go the right way. He cares for her, so much that he fears that he might hurt her by getting to close.  
  
Scratch that - he loves her. I may not know the intricate workings of the adult Hylian mind, but I do recognise love when I see it. Go to her Link - be her knight in shining armour. And Malon - tell him what he means to you, and to so many like you.  
  
Tell him he is The Hero.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I told you it would be short. R+R  
  
Soda 


	6. Wondering : Darunia

Wondering  
  
Darunia wonders how his people will cope without their big brother there to protect them. He also wonders how his sworn brother will ever be able to return to the man he once was.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I look down from where I am, and I begin to wonder whether my son Link can look after the people as well as I hoped. Did I teach him well enough to ways of a ruler? And is there even enough food left for my people to survive on Death Mountain any longer? Perhaps it is time that the Goron tribe moves to the lands outside of Hyrule and find a living there.  
  
But the daughter of my sworn brother, the king, and Link whom my son is named after, cannot be left without the Gorons to aid them should there be another war. It may not sound optimistic, but I fear that there will be another - we cannot hold back this dark thief Ganondorf forevermore; though we may be able to for a long while, eventually these barriers will break, and he will once again be out in the world, wreaking havoc.  
  
And when the time comes, my people will be ready to fight - never again will they suffer the indignity of being prisoners of war. They will stand and fight, or fall trying.  
  
At least, that is what I hope. If they do not die of starvation first...  
  
And my sworn brother Link lounges in the castle, intent that he should not step foot outside ever again if he can manage it. It saddens me to think that such strength and his joyous character should be lost just because of what fate threw at him without his consent. It hardly seems fair - mind you, it is not exactly fair that I am entombed here when I could be back in Hyrule looking after my people.  
  
I don't grudge it though - it is good to know that even if only for a small while, I can protect Hyrule from darkness. My people can remain safe in the knowledge that Big Brother keeps the dark thief from imprisoning them again. And never again will they have to worry about being fed to Volvagia, for the Hero killed her.  
  
I get the terrible feeling that in doing so, he may also have killed off the crops that grew in the caverns. For those years when she dwelled there were plentiful for good sirloins and tender gravel - now there are only bland boulders and only the occasional gem for my brothers and sisters to eat.  
  
Oh, why did it have to me trapped up here, when I should be in Hyrule with my people? Annoyances of fate, couldn't you have chosen another who would be content to sit still for years on end, watching a doorway and constantly repairing defences on it?  
  
I have to stop moaning about it - it shall not make it any better, either for me, or my people. The Goddesses will hopefully come to help their world...though why they did not come sooner I do not know...  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Ack, they're getting shorter...sorry! R+R  
  
Soda 


	7. Wishing : Ruto

Wishing  
  
The Princess of the Zora and Sage of Water remembers her times with the Hero, and when she realised that it could never be. She also hopes that the Zoras will be all right, and the domain will return to how it was before it was frozen solid.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
It's strange, but ever since I found out who I really was, I've been feeling quite small in the scheme of things. It's only now that I realise what a little brat I used to be - I suppose being a Princess led me to be spoiled as well. Mind you, if that were the case, then you'd expect Darunia to be the same, but he isn't - he's got some wiseness around him, and I feel like such a little child. Even Saria seems wise compared to me - all of the other Sages do, and I do oft wonder why on earth I was chosen to be one. I don't think I'm nearly clever enough, but here I am.  
  
And my people are without a ruler - father passed away from chills only a few weeks after it all ended. How cruel fate can be! He survived all of that, and for so long, only to be killed by a tiny illness that was just too much for him at his age. Hopefully Yaryt should be able to keep some order; I remember dubbing him protector of our people should anything happen to my father and I. So, that at least I don't have to worry about too much.  
  
But, there are so many other things that I worry about. What if the dark Gerudo thief can break through our seal? If he was let loose upon the world again, would it be able to withstand him? Would the Hero still be able to rise up against him, and vanquish him again?  
  
The Hero. Link - the one whom I thought, in my silly childish way, that I would give my heart to. And I lived with that for seven years, not knowing when he would come back and sweep me off my feet, ever hoping, always waiting. I can't believe I was so foolish as to believe that a Hylian could fall for one of us 'fish-people', with our scales and fins that seem to be so hideous to them, from what I have gathered. And he was only a child, from the forest no less - how could I believe that he even knew what marriage was?  
  
Still, I can't help but get that old tingle when I think of him...love does not want to leave me easily. I can still remember that time when we first met - when he was so young and innocent, with the biggest and bluest eyes I had ever seen. I could drown in those eyes - which is a lot coming from one who lives in water, I can tell you! And I was so nasty to him in the beginning; probably more angry at myself for losing the sapphire, than at him for trying to help me.  
  
Oh, blessed ignorance - he stepped into Lord Jabu-Jabu without even thinking for his own safety, just wanting to complete the mission he had been set. And he did not change much as he grew in that respect.  
  
When he returned after those seven years, scratched and wounded all over already from awakening Saria and Darunia, I only thought of putting my arms around him and keeping him as my own. If only, somehow, to ease the sorrow and weariness in those eyes that were once bristling with the curiosity of childhood, and ablaze with merriment. Anything to give him back what he had lost amongst all the death and blood which he knew as home.  
  
My love, how can it be fair that we all had to endure so much pain? I had to watch my entire people frozen into the water, and was only saved by a young Sheik, who fended off Ganondorf at his own peril, so that I could escape. And then, I ended up living in the dried up basin that was once the largest body of water in Hyrule.  
  
How could the Gerudo be that cruel? To destroy the homes and livelihoods of so many people, from so many different races, and not caring who he hurt? Yes, he had power - but he did not have anything else to add to his name. He was powerful and somewhat intelligent...but not what I would call wise. And he was a veritable coward.  
  
I suppose that is lucky, for if he had all those in equal merit, I would be willing to bet that I would be dead. That the whole of Hyrule would be dead, and only monsters would live there now. Not even Link would have been able to fight had he not had the Tri-Force of Courage - though no doubt he would have tried, brave fool that he is.  
  
That brave fool is going to have to show bravery many more times in his life, of that I have little doubt. So I will show my courage too, and do the best I can to keep Ganondorf sealed from the world. It is the least I can do...  
  
If only Link could take the first step back, out of his own darkness. Then - I could rest soundly during the times I am not on guard.  
  
Please, bring yourself back Hero - Link. Show your face to the world, and let them see who it was that saved them. Show them who it was that bled and sweated, just so that they could have a shot at living again.  
  
Show them who you are.  
  
How I wish you would - but I cannot force you to from where I am. No one can force you to do anything...you must do it alone. As you always must - alone. We can only help you so far - we are all your friends, but you have to realise it.  
  
I hope you will soon.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
This one was at least a little longer than the last I suppose. So much unrequited love touches a chord in me - I've felt it, and I know it. [Sigh]  
  
R+R - Soda XXX 


	8. Praying : Impa

Praying  
  
Impa this time, and her focus is more on the Princess than the Hero...such is the way when you have cared for one since the day of their birth. You just can't let go.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
How many of my years have I spent protecting others I wonder? It must be at least seventeen, perhaps more. Ever since her Royal Majesty was born, and even before, whilst her mother carried her, I was a bodyguard. Chosen from many, to protect this one, tiny and infinitely precious child. Her Royal Highness, Princess of Destiny and future holder of the Tri-Force of Wisdom, Zelda of Hyrule.  
  
I almost raised the girl, as her own mother died taking on the role, and teaching her all that I though she would need to know as she grew. The King (Goddesses bless his soul) knew that darkness was coming, and allowed me to train her in many arts perhaps not often associated with the Royal Family, such as magic.  
  
She had a natural talent; no one could even begin to fathom what she could do with the right training. I gave her the best training I could, but had to leave her halfway out to sea, as my own sails were not large enough to sail further with her. She had to continue down that path by herself, whilst I made sure that she knew when it was wise to use her powers.  
  
I give myself little credit for the woman she grew up to be - for I could not pay much heed to her, even before the darkness came. I was far too busy making sure that another essential child was assured of his role - and yet another after that. Hah, it seems I did make the good nanny after all!  
  
After the Princess, I had to take care of he who would likely be the only semi-friendly face the Hero would be able to come back to. Sheik - that boy was sharp enough to have been my own son, had I not taken oath against any offspring. He picked things up quickly, and forgot little, if anything. And with his Sheikah ways, I felt much at home when I spoke to him, and instructed him in what his life would entail. What he would have to do when the time came for me to flee, with her majesty in tow.  
  
Yes - those seven years on the run were hard on us all, but we managed. Many of my people fell in order to keep our precious cargo undamaged until she was needed again. There were many close calls, I will admit; I was not as well prepared as I would have liked to be when Ganondorf made his dark schemes known to the world. We just had to get out and run as fast and as far as we could and pray that he would not find us.  
  
He did not. Through pure fluke and lucky chances we escaped him and evaded any searches he made.  
  
And the other child that I had to instruct - alas, I only saw him perhaps a total of three times... Once when he left the castle with his mission to find the Spiritual stones, once when I followed him a small way in Kakariko to ensure that the guard at the gate would let him through - and once more in the Realm. Where I now have to stay forever...or at least until the seal breaks, as we all fear it must.  
  
I have done much for the world, though not as much as some. I have ensured that the next generation, the one that must rebuild, is strong enough in spirit to get on with it.  
  
Yes, I have seen the Hero. Sometimes his sorrow is so great that it pierces the realm with violent purple streaks. That is his Tri-Force piece searching whilst he wishes not to be so alone. For, if he can call Ganondorf back, he shall have a purpose again - but I fear if that were the case, he would break under the strain. The pieces must never be forged together again - when he and the Princess die, the pieces will find new owners, and then it will be their duty to keep them.  
  
Poor children who fall to that task.  
  
For who shall train *them* for life? Who do they have to tell them which path to take, and how to travel it?  
  
The only answer I can find is that they shall have no one. I did rather hope that when I was in the Realm (for I had a hunch that I would be who I am), that Sheik would be left behind in order to watch over the world, and keep the new bearers on the straight and narrow. Such in the curse of the Sheikah to be immortal, but it would at least have meant there was still a watcher left. Still a Sheikah left...I sense that they are all gone from the world now.  
  
We are extinct.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
The extinct thing just came to my mind because I was listening to an MP3 by a Canadian friend called 'Goodbye Whale'. It's kinda an ode to all the terrible things we humans do to the world. I thought it seemed apt for a closing line.  
  
R+R as per usual - Soda XXX 


	9. Fighting : Nabooru

Fighting  
  
Now, at long last, it's Nabooru's turn. She was in the thick of things as Ganondorf rose to power, and she was caught in the tidal wave of rebellion...things did not run as smoothly as she had hoped. And she was plunged into a darkness that none but the Hero have ever seen...  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Oh, for the love of the Goddesses, can He not stop banging on the seal for five minutes? I'm getting a headache from this constant bombardment from the other side. Shut up you ridiculous man!  
  
Excuse me - but I'm getting rather annoyed with guard duty today - I don't believe he can have stopped smashing himself against the doors for over an hour now. When will the respite come? I'd wish deafness on myself just for some peace right now. He can't break out, and he knows it, and I bet that infuriates him. Good. He deserves some feelings of helplessness after all the death and torment he managed to cause in his cowardly way.  
  
I'm Nabooru, in case the rounded ears and the fact that I'm Sage of the Spirit Temple didn't give it away. Yes, I know I seem short tempered, but you would be too if you'd been through what I've been through. I think it entitles me to being a little pissed off - and the fact that this blasted fool won't stop *banging* on the seal! I'm tempted to go over and give him a piece of my mind! Pah, as if he wasn't annoying enough when he was still alive.  
  
I can remember distinctly when I first met his Lordship. He couldn't have been older than a few hours, and I was perhaps four or five...I'm not sure. It doesn't matter anyway. I was ushered in, as the new leader in training for the fortress, and shown this child, who was reputed to be about to lead our people into a 'Golden Age', and give us Hyrule on a platter. Of course, I had no comprehension at that age as to what this might mean. I didn't know that there would be bloodshed in order to get the fertile soils and comfortable homes that I was told would come when he led us.  
  
He was a curious child, and I doubt if you had met him in those early years, you would have recognised the sweet smiles upon his face. And you certainly wouldn't have registered the evil monstrosity we have trapped here, to the shy boy, who didn't want to play with the girls, because he was the odd one out.  
  
But, he was being twisted to the dark path by those two witches, Koume and Kotake. And if any of you have read the legends, you will know I mean witches in the literal sense. They were the ones who dwelled in the Spirit Temple, and would often come to visit the Gerudo, searching for the 'boy'. So, when they came on one of these many visits, and found Ganondorf to be of a viable age at last (he could not have been more than ten or eleven), they began to tell him tales of the Tri-Force, and of the power that it would give him if he could gain it.  
  
And it was then that he began to gain a cruel streak. No longer would he quietly share his belongings; instead, he would ensure that as the only male, and therefore the most important child, that he would get all the first rate stuff. The best food, the best toys and the very best weapons. Nothing was too good for Ananya's precious boy-child - even jewels were gathered and given at his feet, and he began to realise just what sway he had.  
  
I did not genuflect at his feet - luckily, it was not noticed, for everyone excused me, saying I had enough to do in my training. I lived up to that as best as I could, ignoring Ganondorf as much as possible without causing offence. He was a pompous little child in my eyes, and I didn't have time for pompous, pampered boy-children in my schedule.  
  
However, it soon escalated to the point that Ganondorf was planning false alliances with the King of Hyrule, and I could see what the plans were. For, if he could be in the King's good books, he could also possibly gain entrance to the Temple of Light, and then the Tri-Force.  
  
I was finally able to comprehend what the scriptures had meant by 'Hyrule on a platter'. Oh yes, it would be easy enough to take if he did gain the Tri-Force - but what about all the blood and death that would linger about the place? I could not let something so hideous happen without trying to combat it in some way.  
  
That was the beginning of the secret alliance - there weren't many of us. Maybe twenty, thirty at our strongest point. We had four on stable duty, and were able to prevent Ganondorf from having a horse for about three weeks, before Ananya stepped forwards, and demanded one. How pitiful - that he still needed his mother to do such things for him. But, we could not hold back, and Ganondorf rode forth to put the first parts of the plan into action.  
  
When I heard that he had part of the Tri-Force, the alliance was called together, and we prepared our battle plan. If we could kill the precious man-child, we would be able to stop it all before it got out of hand.  
  
Or so we thought.  
  
I didn't account for traitors in the group...I found myself enslaved, and many of my friends similarly punished - or in some cases...Goddesses, how cruel a race can be when their eyes are filled with the greedy promise of riches.  
  
Enough of that - it is all in the past after all, and the precious man- child is trapped behind the ten foot thick seal at my back, barricaded with magic and material. Bang away all you want Ganondorf. Waste your strength - maybe by next watch, you'll be so tired you can't keep it up, and I can have a rest from this fearful drumming.  
  
Here's hoping anyway.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I'm sorry if that seemed a little rushed - I was trying to prevent myself from launching into a full history of Nabooru's exploits during Ganondorf's rise and fall, so I had to get off of each point quickly, or I know I wouldn't have been able to stop. And, I completely made up the name of Ganondorf's mother off of the top of my head. It's not like we were ever told (unless I missed something...)  
  
R+R - Soda XXX 


	10. Lament : Rauru

Lament  
  
Finally, I get to Rauru, and the end of the Sages. The great Sage of Light, renowned for his all-encompassing powers, is filled with sorrow at what life bought to those of destiny. Surely - so much pain in life cannot be right?  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Ah - yet again it is my turn to stand before this door which is the only protection against the evil beyond. I will not dwell on that however, just like I have never dwelled upon it before, and I never plan to dwell on it after these moments. What is beyond doesn't merit being given the time of day or night, never mind being worried and fretted over by one such as I. After all - there are more pressing things which I worry about right now.  
  
To list them all would take a ridiculous amount of time, and some of them are so small, that they are not worth mentioning. However, I believe that I am able to narrow them down to the most important major ones, and it is those to which I will turn my mind during this lonesome watch. The other Sages do well to keep themselves amused - alas, I became quite bored of this self-made prison years ago, so it is my mind which transports me to other places so that I do not go mad with boredom.  
  
I am Rauru...it's strange how such simple things as names seem to slip peoples' minds these days. Mind you, after seven years of choosing between telling your name, or telling someone to duck out of the way before they are killed, it is not a surprise that the battle wits have not yet left the world. Maybe they would all do well to slow down though - to take some time to appreciate that they are still alive, and that the air is no longer polluted with the cloying stench of death every day and night.  
  
How dare I speak of that world though, when it has been so long since I last saw it truly? It has been a long time, that I know, but to count the years would put too much strain on my less-than-adept old mind. It's hard enough just coping with my laments of the past.  
  
Everyone has something that they wish they could go back and change...  
  
My something is a boy in a man's body, who must now relearn everything he once knew, and accept what he has become. Though I know he is reluctant to believe that he is indeed a man now, and not still the child his mind tells him he must be. Such petulance that can seen within children only makes him seem selfish to all those around them - all those who do not know what he has been through, that is.  
  
The Princess of Destiny has been able to keep him alive and from self harm, but she isn't able to do much else. I would - oh, how I would help the poor child if I could leave this place. This cold, ever shimmering and thrumming with unseen magic place. How I loathe it after all these years. How I lament another action of the past, one that bought me here in the first place.  
  
I believed I would be strong enough, impassive enough to do the job here. I believed that I was the perfect young man for the job, with my little magic tricks and cocky nature. So I threw away the life I could have had, and strolled down this road, withering and aging before I realised the mistake I had made. Yes, to help the world of Hyrule was something I wanted to do...but throwing my life away?  
  
I know how the Hero feels in that respect. It is to a lesser degree of course, but it is still there. And I know now how foolish a child I once was.  
  
He was once a child - oh so many years ago when he first came, fresh from confrontation with the Gerudo, and scared beyond his wits. I watched gleefully as he wrenched the Master Sword from its resting place, for I thought at last I would have company in this place.  
  
Alas, when he arrived, he was sleeping, and I knew I could not, and should not wake him. For then he would no doubt attempt to return to the world before he was old enough to deal with what awaited him. His destiny was a dangerous one.  
  
Ho - the pounding of fists from beyond has stopped - I think our dark friend has finally understood his predicament. Like us, he is trapped. Trapped, until destiny and fate decide to intervene once more.  
  
I hope they can wait before their next visit. The Hero needs time to heal. So does the world.  
  
Give us time.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
I was tempted to do this in the second to last line. 'The Hero needs *time*. And not just for him to govern, but for it to govern him also'. But it didn't make quite so much sense, did it? [Shrugs]  
  
R+R - Soda XXX  
  
PS: Whoo, I got flamed. Yes, I am an angsty little bitch, no, I don't take drugs, and do you think I'd get this fucking angsty if a partner left me? And, God? Excuse me, but I would like to point out that that could be taken as offensive if I so wished - luckily, I won't take offence, because I know it was a mindless silly stab. I think it may be you flamers who are the weirdoes, not me. But it's just my opinion...and yes, well done, they are game characters - hence this being 'fan fiction.' [Laughs] I do wonder about some flamers I.Qs... 


	11. Death : Sheik

Death  
  
This is the last one - for 'perfection done backwards'. Who cares if he's dead? He's just in another realm amongst the many realms - and I really wanted to do this chapter anyway to end it all!  
  
Sheik wishes so many things, and ponders what things could have gone differently - how could he have done better to save people? What could he have improved on...and he finds a deep-seated hatred against one particular man.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
It was painful when I died. Naturally, I did not make a sound when my soul was finally allowed to depart my body, going in the stoic silence that all we Sheikah must leave the world in. It is our way...even before, as I could feel the life drain out of me, I made no sound. That enraged the Gerudo king very much, which is a fact I find highly amusing in itself. Oh no - I bet all the other Sheikah he brutally murdered didn't give him the satisfaction of so much as a scream when he killed them. Such a *shame*.  
  
Oh well, never mind for him. I'm not going to let myself think about *him* anymore, or my soul may darken even more - I do not fancy going to see what dwells in the Realms below. I'm lucky to have gotten in here - the shadow folk aren't usually allowed in the hallowed halls, but it seems I at least did something right in my bumbling life. I don't feel like it much though. It's fuzzy and hard to remember exactly what it was I did.  
  
I taught the Hero some songs or some such...and gave him a few clues. Personally, I don't see how that can have merited this breach in the usual protocols of death. Not that I'll tell Azrael that - as I said, I'd prefer to be here than below. Below is much like Hyrule itself (during it's good periods). I don't want to have to spend eternity remaining in shadows with the rest of my people just like I did in life. It just doesn't seem worth the pain of the death I had really.  
  
The images I have of life may be fuzzy, but when they do come, it's easy enough to piece them together and then guess the gaps. It's happening again now for that matter.  
  
Ah, of course. When Impa first caught me from a pack of marauding lads in the Sheikah village, pockets full of stolen sugared violets. After a swift reprimand, she proceeded to congratulate me, as I was in fact the only one who the shopkeeper had not spotted. She told me I had 'potential'. It registers now I didn't even know what the word meant until she explained it to me, and even then I wasn't a hundred percent sure.  
  
After that, there were but a few weeks in which she drilled me on everything I was to do when the time came. My head reels to think of all the information I absorbed (and also hurriedly wrote in a small class- book). It wasn't all that long until the time did come, and Impa was no longer there to seek advice from. I crept away from the home I had known my entire life, charged with seeking out the Temple melodies, and saving whom I could, only where the risk to myself was minimal. I was 'the Hero's only hope' as Impa put it so encouragingly the night before she disappeared.  
  
So, that was what I did - I wandered about the land, searching for the melodies, and saving those that I could from the clutches of darkness which were reaching out to choke the world. It was strange - for a small while, people hailed the 'Sheikah boy' as the Hero of Time, and I was unable to pause to set them right. Perhaps that it why when the real Hero returned, some remained hostile and untrusting. If only I had taken the time to explain...  
  
Can't be helped now.  
  
And, when the Hero had done what he was supposed to, and all but one of the Sages was awakened, the Princess reappeared unobtrusively to the world, and relayed her plan to take my place when the time came, thus rendering me to nothing. I fought against that - oh, yes, I did fight. She insisted and insisted that it was 'the only way', and that it would 'stop the Hero from tiring himself after the land is saved, searching for Sheik'. Perhaps I wanted him to tirelessly search for me after it was over - but she would not have been able to fathom that, so I did not say so.  
  
She finally caved in, and promised to allow me to remain my own person. So, merrily, I set off to the Desert Colossus, creeping past the guards with ease and out into the swirling sands. I, sadly, could not teleport to the temple - only the Ocarina of Time held that quality, so I had to walk out and through the desert. Where, in the middle of a fierce sand storm, I literally ran into Ganondorf and his troop of followers, who were pilgrimaging to the Temple for some reason - I know not what it was.  
  
And my merry step was broken, as I attempted to teleport myself away with a Deku-nut. *He* caught my arm and stayed the action, dark eyes sparkling with unspoken malice. And then - oh Goddesses, the bastard!  
  
Oh - Azrael does not look pleased...he must have heard me think that. Luckily, in another couple of days, he won't be able to send me away, as my probation will be over here. Sorry Azrael!  
  
But, I think what he did merits it. It was purposeful public shame, that is all I can call it - and before a whole harem of those red-haired Gerudo thieves as well as a multitude of dark things I don't know the name of, and now I never will.  
  
He slowly and deftly removed my facemask, revealing the silver tears tattooed under my eyes to the world. Only one Sheikah that I knew of would show those to the world - and she was in the Sacred Realm, ready to lock this evil creature away when the time came.  
  
Time - it all comes back to time. If I had waited another day, it would not have happened - the Hero, I hear, did not arrive until a week after at the Temple, so I would have had two days left over even if I had paused in my journey. I did not though - so eager was I to think that it was almost over, that I had survived and was going to thrive...perhaps at Link's side.  
  
I have dared to think it, at least...  
  
In death, I can do nothing about that now. After I was exhausted, beaten and tortured into an early grave, Zelda, who had been watching events, took over smoothly, and prevented total disaster. And now, it is evident she wanted him for her own all along...  
  
Neither of us captured him though - the one for him is Malon, the Ranch- Girl, though he fears to admit it. How I wish he would - one of us caught up in the central workings of fate and destiny deserves to escape and be happy.  
  
And he deserves the happiness more than most.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
That's it [deep sigh]. Eesh, you *really* don't want to read this if you're already down, do you? And, yes, I know, I always do that - (make Sheik sarcastic). And, well, I thought I'd make this have some continuity, so I took the idea about Link saying 'Perhaps I loved him - I know not', and then made it so that Sheik might reciprocate the feelings. Well, I thought it was an interesting idea anyway...  
  
R+R, for the heck of it - Soda XXX 


	12. Hell : Link

Hell  
  
I just got a sudden burst of inspiration for another chapter to this. Morbid me, huh? Am on writing roll today I suppose...  
  
Link is slipping into insanity ever more quickly, and here are his musings.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
The Tri-Force. It's just three bloody golden triangles. And yet it ruined my life. How you ask?  
  
Maybe your first question should be 'who are you?' Because then at least you'll know that the one you address should probably have no right whatsoever to grouch about destiny or what life dealt. Of course not; most would think I did not even have the brains to do so. After all the knocks and beatings I received over the years, it's not surprising really - even I am sometimes surprised that I didn't get some permanent brain damage.  
  
Mind you, the way I'm talking, maybe I did.  
  
I'm Link, Hero of Time. This is yet another of my nightmares - it isn't as bad as most. All I will do is explain to the people - being you - just how my life is completely ruined and torn to shreds, you will all yell at me and laugh at me as a fool, and then I shall awake. That's how it always is...  
  
Goddesses, I hope you're listening to this mortal's dreams! By darkness, I hope you are! You RUINED me, do you hear? RUINED! I'm not even a boy in a man's body anymore.  
  
I'm a monster waiting to burst out on the world.  
  
Curse you three - curse you three beautiful, wonderful creatures. Damn you for being strong enough to survive unscathed. Damn you for making *me* strong enough to survive. And damn you for taking that accursed triangular mark from me. because now I don't even have that false braveness to hide under.  
  
I am a coward. I know it now.  
  
And I blame it all on those triangles! Some geometric shapes ruined my life.  
  
Ahahahaha, how insane I sound. Though maybe I am. It's hard to tell what's sane and what isn't anymore. It's even hard to tell when I'm dreaming or not anymore. Often I am just walking around this dreary palace, and I will see *his* face, laughing from beyond.  
  
*He* got to die, so why can I not? What did he do to deserve such a gift? What must I do to get it?  
  
Simple answer, you will say.  
  
Just jump off of that balcony over there.  
  
Do you think I have not tried? Watch this... You see, the whole dratted tower is clothed in magic - I cannot jump - I can barely get near the window without feeling the distinct urge to collapse onto the floor and twitch intermittently as the magic washes over my unclean skin and soul.  
  
Unclean.  
  
Murky and muddy and terrible and awful. That's me. I scare the people now - I terrify Zelda. And I doubt I shall ever see my son by Malon - not if she knows what will be good for him. It is best he doesn't even know who his father is.  
  
For who wants to hear that their father is a lunatic burnt out old hero?  
  
I know I didn't want to know when I was told that...  
  
For, if he knows, then the cycle will repeat. Another evil will take the Tri-Force...and the Tri-Force of Courage will go to the next in my bloodline...  
  
As it has been since the dawn of Hyrule's time.  
  
Cursed land.  
  
Cursed magic.  
  
And Time...that is the root of all of this. All-consuming, merciless time. I hope it will consume me soon, long before my expected time.  
  
The servant comes soon. They had better have the knife, or it will be another over the balcony. I cannot fall...but they can.  
  
...  
  
No knife? Oh dear, my poor child. Over you go.  
  
You say you don't want to die? Watch yourself go...  
  
...and over they go, to splatter bloodily on the ground. I smile at the sound and the sight, before the magic drives me back. Death is so beautiful... I'm sure I would make a wonderous corpse, if only I were allowed my sword back!  
  
...  
  
Tri-Force - I call upon your cursed powers to control Time, and kill me.  
  
Do it. NOW!  
  
Now...now...do it!  
  
...  
  
And I awake, sweating and shaking, in my bed, in my room, and I look around me. I am alive - and it is hell.  
  
~/*\~/*\~/*\~  
  
Come along fans of morbidity - review me!  
  
Soda 


End file.
